While the fall semester is nearing its end, University of Georgia students may understand by now that their peers who have been arrested for drunk driving not only face the embarrassment and legal consequences that are associated with DUI charges, but they may also face serious penalties issued by university officials.
Students who are convicted of DUI or underage DUI risk being expelled from campus housing, they could lose valuable scholarships and future career opportunities could be jeopardized. This week, another University of Georgia student faces the possibility of losing out on future opportunities after he was arrested for DUI and underage consumption of alcohol. Police first suspected the man of DUI after he allegedly backed up his truck into another student’s vehicle in a parking lot.
According to reports, an Athens-Clarke County officer noticed that a headlight was out on a pick-up truck that was in the driveway of an apartment complex. The officer reported that he waited for the truck to pull out of the driveway so that he could make a traffic stop. But instead of pulling out into the street, the driver of the pick-up truck allegedly backed up the vehicle and struck another car.
When the officer approached the vehicle, he reported that driver had switched seats and exited the vehicle from a backseat door. The student allegedly told the officer that he had five beers and had attempted to back up the truck and then switched seats in order to avoid a ticket. After failing field sobriety tests, the student was arrested and taken to Clarke County Jail.
As our Athens, Georgia, DUI law blog discussed last week, Athens-Clarke County Police reported that several college students are arrested each week for DUI charges and underage alcohol-related offenses. For this reason, many students who have been charged with DUI may benefit greatly from working with an aggressive defense attorney in order to preserve their college scholarships and future career opportunities that could otherwise be jeopardized by a conviction on one’s record.
Source: The Red and Black, “Student hits another student’s car, charged with DUI,” Adina Solomon, Nov. 6, 2011